Life after Hakuna Matata
by NoRatCat
Summary: After Scar's downfall, one of Timon and Pumbaa's old jungle neighbors tries to adjust to a life after no worries for the rest of your days. One shot based on the 2019 film.


The Pride Lands had known nothing but devastation since the rise of King Scar. Many of the herds had moved on due to over-hunting by the hyenas. Yet the return of Simba had put Scar's reign to an end. The hyenas had moved on, while Simba resumed his rightful place as king. Life returned to the Pride Lands, and in time, Simba and his queen Nala were blessed with a son, continuing the circle of life.

Yet, Simba had not always followed the circle of life. Though he had been taught so by his father Mufasa, he had adopted a new way of life in his self imposed exile: Hakuna Matata. The philosophy meant "no worries". What was in the past, was in the past, and one must only focus on the future. This was imparted to Simba by his two guardians Timon and Pumbaa. They exemplified this by living in a lush jungle, full of all manner of insects, living each life to fulfill their pleasures. Of course, they were not the only ones to live by this phrase. There were other members of the jungle who were more or less Timon and Pumbaa's neighbors. And when Scar fell, Simba not only invited Timon and Pumbaa to live in the Pride Lands, but invited other members of their jungle home.

Though they had lived by Hakuna Matata, they each went their separate ways, finding their place in the circle of life.

And on one night, Hakuna Matata was being revisited.

A thick belch snapped through the air. This provoked a chuckle from a certain meerkat. "Nice one Pumbaa." Timon congratulated his friend. The little meerkat prepped himself, then with a crane of his head, released a belch of his own.

"Nicely done Timon." Pumbaa replied.

"Really? That's it? You're out of practice Timon my boy." Sitting next to the pair was a female bat eared fox. "Watch and learn." She said as she got on her haunches and put a paw to her chest. She was getting in the mood, making sure everything was building up. Then when it had reached its capacity, the fox released a belch of her own. The belch boomed through the night air, nearly knocking back the warthog and meerkat pair from shock. The sound soon subsided until the fox gave a tiny little burp.

"Woah! Oh man nice one Bhati!" Timon cheered.

"That was both disgusting, and beautiful." Pumbaa concurred.

Bhati flashed herself a proud smile. "Why thank you. I'm still a vixen of many talents."

"And here I thought going all domestic made you soft." Timon said.

"Eh you aren't going to knock Hakuna Matata completely out of me. Even if I do have responsibilities now." Bhati said, getting on all fours. "Well as fun as our little bug buffet has been, that belch means I am at full capacity."

"Well alright. Just don't be a stranger alright? I mean we hardly see the old gang since Simba invited us all here." Pumbaa said with a slight lament.

Though their old community still saw one another, their own separate lives prevented that from being full time. Though Simba of course made time for his old friends now and then.

"Hey you'll never get rid of this fox easily!" Bhati said triumphantly before giving off another burp. "Oh, still had a little one left over."

With nothing else to say, Bhati strode off into the African wilderness. As she walked, she couldn't help but feel just as overstuffed as that log she, Timon and Pumbaa had broken into. They had certainly made a night of it, feeding their faces till they couldn't hold another mouthful, and now Bhati's stomach felt absolutely packed. She somewhat regretted indulging herself so much, but she needed a break now and then.

She could see her den again. There was no one around. "Must be asleep." She said to herself. She just hoped they hadn't waited up for her too long.

"Mommy!"

Before Bhati could react, twin bundles of fur darted out of the den and tackled her. "Bhati's stomach gave a shifting lurch as she was turned on her back, allowing the twins to pounce upon her.

Atop Bhati were a pair of fox cubs, both looking like miniature versions of herself. Laughter peppered out of the twins, but not just them, but their mother.

"Mosi? Asha? What are you two still doing up?" She asked to the male and female cub respectively.

"All right kids let your mother up." Coming up from the den was an adult male.

"Yes Daddy." Mosi and Asha said as they allowed their mother up.

The male walked up to Bhati and they rubbed each other affectionately. "Sorry honey, but they wanted to wait up for you."

"Yeah! We wanted to know if you had a good time with Uncle Timon and Uncle Pumbaa?" Asha asked.

"Did you eat a lot of bugs?" Mosi also asked.

Bhati grinned at her two cub's eagerness. "Oh I certainly feasted. What about you two. You ate right?"

"Yeah Daddy made sure we ate." Asha replied. "Though Mosi acted really gross!"

"Did not!" Mosi replied.

"Did too!"

"I burped so what? Mom does it!"

"All right all right, settle down you two. Now I let you two stay up until your mother got back, but now it's time for two little cubs to sleep."

Both twins lowered their heads and flattened their ears. "Yes Dad."

The twins obeyed their father and headed back into the den. Bhati chuckled to herself, "Oh Jengo, what would we do without you?"

Jengo likewise chuckled, "Oh probably go insane."

"You're already insane." Bhati jokingly replied.

"Only because I'm so in love with you." Jengo said romantically.

"All right let's knock off the mush and go inside." Bhati said.

The two adults joined their children, settling themselves in a protective position. As she set herself down, Bhati felt a small cramp in her side.

"Ugh." She groaned.

"You alright?" Jengo asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just haven't pigged out like that in a while." Bhati replied.

Though feasting on insects till you were ready to burst was something she did on occasion back in the jungle, now she realized it could hamper oneself now that she has responsibilities.

"I was a little worried you know?" Jengo said.

"Worried?" Bhati asked.

"Yeah. I mean I don't mind you spending time with your old friends, but anything could happen to you. And if something did, I don't think I would be able to go on."

"Oh please. Don't be so dramatic." Bhati said with amusement. Sometimes her mate could get like this.

"I'm serious. I just couldn't imagine my life without you." Jengo reaffirmed.

Starting a family was something Bhati hadn't planned on. When she moved into the Pride Lands with the rest of her jungle community, she had expected her life to go on just as before. But then she met Jengo. Correction, her Jengo. What started off as a friendship, had turned to love, and through that love, their children were born. Honestly, Bhati considered herself the luckiest fox in Africa. She had gone from a carefree bachelorette to a wife and mother. Such a change was not easy, but she had accepted it, settling into her new life of maternal responsibility.

Placing her paw upon Jengo's, Bhati replied, "You know what? I couldn't picture my life without you either."

Staring into one another's eyes, the two mates rubbed their heads once more and settled down for the night.

"Honey?" Bhati asked one last time.

"Hmm?" Jengo's reply came.

"You know? You and the kids should come with me on my little get togethers sometime." Bhati suggested. "I mean a little family dinner is always nice, but I kind of want to see how Mosi's burp stacks up to mine."

"Go to sleep dear." Jengo replied.

"All right. Goodnight."

"Night."

And in short time, the little family was off to sleep. Though her Hakuna Matata lifestyle was over for the most part, she certainly had no worries in her life. She was happy and content, and she would focus on her new future. This was her life after Hakuna Matata.

A/N: Okay, for those who read my old colab fanfic based on the animated version of the Lion King, you know that me and my co author included our interpretation of Bhati, the bat eared fox who was cut from the Lion King. Well seeing that the new film had a bat eared fox, I figured what if the fox was the film's version of Bhati? So hence I wrote this. Based on what I saw in the film, I'm pretty sure Timon and Pumbaa's neighbors in the jungle participated in Hakuna Matata.

Now my thoughts on the new film? I liked it, but personally I felt the animated film had more emotion between the characters. Still a good film though.


End file.
